Phonics word list

Long oo words

In short

Long oo is the vowel sound in moon, food and school, written /ū/ in most sequences. The same spelling says a short /oo/ in book, so oo words come in two groups. Our checked list has 306 words where oo says the long sound in moon.

At a glance

Words in our list: 306
By syllables: one syllable: 164 · two syllables: 135 · three or more syllables: 7
Taught in: Lesson 90 in the sequence

One spelling, more than one sound

Most lists mix these up. We count each sound separately, so a student practicing one sound only sees words that make it.

How many words in our list spell each sound with oo
Sound	Example	Words	List
/ū/	too	306	This page
/oo/	book	143	See the list
/ŭ/	blood	306	This page

Oo words that say /ū/, most common first

Spelling units show how each word breaks into the letters that spell one sound; a_e is a vowel and silent e working together. Readable after is the first lesson where a student can sound out the whole word.

One syllable

The 60 most common of 164 words. 104 more are in our list.

One syllable
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
too	t·oo	1	Lesson 90
boot	b·oo·t	1	Lesson 90
food	f·oo·d	1	Lesson 90
loop	l·oo·p	1	Lesson 90
pool	p·oo·l	1	Lesson 90
room	r·oo·m	1	Lesson 90
root	r·oo·t	1	Lesson 90
soon	s·oo·n	1	Lesson 90
loose	l·oo·s·e	1	Lesson 90
proof	p·r·oo·f	1	Lesson 90
rooms	r·oo·m·s	1	Lesson 90
shoot	sh·oo·t	1	Lesson 90
tooth	t·oo·th	1	Lesson 90
choose	ch·oo·s·e	1	Lesson 90
school	s·ch·oo·l	1	Lesson 41c (heart word)
smooth	s·m·oo·th	1	Lesson 90
schools	s·ch·oo·l·s	1	Lesson 41c
boom	b·oo·m	1	Lesson 90
cool	c·oo·l	1	Lesson 90
doom	d·oo·m	1	Lesson 90
fool	f·oo·l	1	Lesson 90
mood	m·oo·d	1	Lesson 90
moon	m·oo·n	1	Lesson 90
noon	n·oo·n	1	Lesson 90
roof	r·oo·f	1	Lesson 90
tool	t·oo·l	1	Lesson 90
zoom	z·oo·m	1	Lesson 90
boost	b·oo·s·t	1	Lesson 90
boots	b·oo·t·s	1	Lesson 90
cools	c·oo·l·s	1	Lesson 90
dooms	d·oo·m·s	1	Lesson 90
foods	f·oo·d·s	1	Lesson 90
fools	f·oo·l·s	1	Lesson 90
loops	l·oo·p·s	1	Lesson 90
moons	m·oo·n·s	1	Lesson 90
roots	r·oo·t·s	1	Lesson 90
spoof	s·p·oo·f	1	Lesson 90
spool	s·p·oo·l	1	Lesson 90
tools	t·oo·l·s	1	Lesson 90
troop	t·r·oo·p	1	Lesson 90
whoop	wh·oo·p	1	Lesson 90
cooled	c·oo·l·ed	1	Lesson 90
doomed	d·oo·m·ed	1	Lesson 90
fooled	f·oo·l·ed	1	Lesson 90
proofs	p·r·oo·f·s	1	Lesson 90
shoots	sh·oo·t·s	1	Lesson 90
troops	t·r·oo·p·s	1	Lesson 90
whoops	wh·oo·p·s	1	Lesson 90
boo	b·oo	1	Lesson 90
coo	c·oo	1	Lesson 90
goo	g·oo	1	Lesson 90
moo	m·oo	1	Lesson 90
woo	w·oo	1	Lesson 90
zoo	z·oo	1	Lesson 90
boon	b·oo·n	1	Lesson 90
boos	b·oo·s	1	Lesson 90
coop	c·oo·p	1	Lesson 90
coos	c·oo·s	1	Lesson 90
goof	g·oo·f	1	Lesson 90
goon	g·oo·n	1	Lesson 90

Two syllables

The 60 most common of 135 words. 75 more are in our list.

Two syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
sooner	s·oo·n·er	2	Lesson 90
chooses	ch·oo·s·e·s	2	Lesson 90
soonest	s·oo·n·e·s·t	2	Lesson 90
choosing	ch·oo·s·i·ng	2	Lesson 109
cuckoo	c·u·ck·oo	2	Lesson 90
bedroom	b·e·d·r·oo·m	2	Lesson 90
cartoon	c·ar·t·oo·n	2	Lesson 90
cooling	c·oo·l·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
dooming	d·oo·m·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
fooling	f·oo·l·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
foolish	f·oo·l·i·sh	2	Lesson 90
loosely	l·oo·s·e·l·y	2	Lesson 90
bathroom	b·a·th·r·oo·m	2	Lesson 90
cartoons	c·ar·t·oo·n·s	2	Lesson 90
loophole	l·oo·p·h·o_e·l	2	Lesson 90
shooting	sh·oo·t·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
smoothly	s·m·oo·th·l·y	2	Lesson 90
goofy	g·oo·f·y	2	Lesson 90
loony	l·oo·n·y	2	Lesson 90
moody	m·oo·d·y	2	Lesson 90
oozes	oo·z·e·s	2	Lesson 90
roomy	r·oo·m·y	2	Lesson 90
booing	b·oo·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
booted	b·oo·t·ed	2	Lesson 90
choosy	ch·oo·s·y	2	Lesson 90
cooing	c·oo·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
cooler	c·oo·l·er	2	Lesson 90
cooper	c·oo·p·er	2	Lesson 90
gloomy	g·l·oo·m·y	2	Lesson 90
groovy	g·r·oo·v·y	2	Lesson 90
hooted	h·oo·t·ed	2	Lesson 90
hooter	h·oo·t·er	2	Lesson 90
looser	l·oo·s·er	2	Lesson 90
looses	l·oo·s·e·s	2	Lesson 90
looted	l·oo·t·ed	2	Lesson 90
oozing	oo·z·i·ng	2	Lesson 109
rooted	r·oo·t·ed	2	Lesson 90
rooter	r·oo·t·er	2	Lesson 90
spooky	s·p·oo·k·y	2	Lesson 90
uproot	u·p·r·oo·t	2	Lesson 90
wooing	w·oo·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
booming	b·oo·m·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
boosted	b·oo·s·t·ed	2	Lesson 90
booster	b·oo·s·t·er	2	Lesson 90
booting	b·oo·t·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
bootleg	b·oo·t·l·e·g	2	Lesson 90
brooded	b·r·oo·d·ed	2	Lesson 90
coolers	c·oo·l·er·s	2	Lesson 90
coolest	c·oo·l·e·s·t	2	Lesson 90
goofing	g·oo·f·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
looming	l·oo·m·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
looping	l·oo·p·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
loosing	l·oo·s·i·ng	2	Lesson 109
looting	l·oo·t·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
pooling	p·oo·l·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
roofing	r·oo·f·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
rooming	r·oo·m·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
roosted	r·oo·s·t·ed	2	Lesson 90
rooster	r·oo·s·t·er	2	Lesson 90
rooting	r·oo·t·i·ng	2	Lesson 90

Three or more syllables

7 words, most common first.

Three or more syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
afternoon	a·f·t·er·n·oo·n	3	Lesson 90
afternoons	a·f·t·er·n·oo·n·s	3	Lesson 90
roomier	r·oo·m·i·er	3	Lesson 110
foolishly	f·oo·l·i·sh·l·y	3	Lesson 90
cartooning	c·ar·t·oo·n·i·ng	3	Lesson 90
cartoonist	c·ar·t·oo·n·i·s·t	3	Lesson 90
foolishness	f·oo·l·i·sh·n·e·ss	3	Lesson 90

When do these words become readable?

The lessons where the most words on this page become decodable. Words marked not in the sequence have a spelling the sequence never teaches as a pattern.

Lessons where the most words on this page become readable
Readable after	Words
Lesson 41c	1
Lesson 64	1
Lesson 65	1
Lesson 90	289
Lesson 94	2
Lesson 95	2
Lesson 109	5
Lesson 118	1
Not in the sequence	2

How do you teach oo words that say /ū/?

Teach long oo first; it is more common in our list. "Oo says /ū/ as in moon." Read moon, soon, food, pool, tooth. Then teach short oo (book, look) a lesson later and practice the flex. "Try moon sound. If it isn't a word, try book sound."

What mistake do students make with oo words that say /ū/?

Students mix the two sounds (fud for food, bük for book). Dialect plays a part: some speakers say room and roof either way. Accept both readings when a word allows it, and drill the clear cases.

Where do oo words that say /ū/ come in the sequence?

Long oo is usually taught right after short oo or right before it, in the second vowel team unit. In the sequence we use, the pattern is taught in Lesson 90.

Exceptions worth knowing

Blood and flood say /ŭ/. Door and floor say /or/. Before r, oo usually changes, so poor and moor are left off this list.

Decodable sentences

Every word in these sentences can be read at Lesson 90 or earlier, or is a heart word taught by then.

The moon is up soon.
Food is good for you.
Swim in the pool at noon.

Questions people ask

What are 5 oo words that say /ū/?

Too, boot, food, loop, pool. Those are the five most common of the 306 words where oo says the long sound in moon in our checked list.

What are the two sounds of oo?

Long /ū/ as in moon and short /oo/ as in book. A few words such as blood use /ŭ/.

How do students know which oo sound to use?

They try one, check if it is a real word, then try the other. Long oo is more common, so try it first.

When can a student read oo words that say /ū/?

Oo words that say /ū/ are taught at Lesson 90 in the lesson sequence we use. 293 of the 306 words on this page can be sounded out by then; the rest wait for a pattern taught later, and the tables show the lesson for each word.

How this list was built

Every word comes from our lexicon of common English words, each split into spelling units and checked against a pronouncing dictionary, so a word is listed under the sound its spelling really makes. Words a student sees in our assessments are left out. The readable after lesson comes from our decodability engine, which checks each spelling unit and syllable pattern against the lesson sequence. You can run your own text through the same engine with the free decodable text checker.